These
tips are not dependent on operating system, but may change depending on program
version.

2016 update:
There have been some changes but the principles still apply.

What is a
"Browser"? It is a program on your computer that allows you to Surf
or browse around the Internet. You must be connected to the Internet for the
Browser to work. Then you must start a Program called a Browser. If you are
Using AOL or CompuServe, the browser is integrated into the entire program.
If you connect with any other service, you have a choice of Browsers.

Microsoft
Internet Explorer (MSIE) is bundled with and an integral part of Windows (all
versions). Do not try to delete it even if you don't use it.

AOL is still
in use but has lost it's place. Other browsers are in use by a few including
Opera. Worth looking at. You can download it from www.opera.com.

Another browser
that has gained popularity is Firefox
which appears to be as popular as IE. You can also download it and read about it by searching for Firefox in Yahoo or Google.

My take
on the other browsers is that they are more trouble than they are worth because
I'm basically lazy and hate tinkering. MS has done all it can to prevent other
programs from being successful and making them work becomes a headache. A classic
example is the attempt to make Yahoo your default
browser. and now with Windows 10 Microsoft has muddied the waters with Edge,
the default browser in Win 10. IE is still there and can be used if you like
it. Google IE to find directions on using it.

Also many
web page programmers don't make their page work with all browsers and in many
cases IE is the only one that will display a file correctly. So why fight it?

Now that you
know what a browser is, how do you use it? There are 3 basic ways to find pages
on the Net. 1) Type in the web address, 2) click on a favorite
or bookmark, or links on pages, and 3) use a search
engine. Also check the page on Surfing.

1) If you
know the web address (commonly called URL),
Just type it in the address location field at the top of the browser. You can
also click File, Open or Open Page and type the address in there. You do not
need to type the http:// part of the address. Actually you only need to type
the name and the program will default to http://www.(Name).com. If it is a .gov,
.net, .org, .edu, it requires the www.(Name).gov or other. Therefore I feel
it is just easier to do it all the time.

2) Clicking
on a Favorite or Bookmark only works if you have some. Many programs provide
a set of them for starters. You can add them as you surf so you can easily return
to a site. Very soon you get too many and need to organize them. Click
Here to learn how. Clicking on links in a page is much like clicking on
a favorite. As your mouse moves over a link, it changes to a pointing hand.
That indicates that if you click the mouse (Single) on the link, you will open
a new page to view. If you want to keep the current page open as you open a
new link, right click on the link and choose, Open In New Page.

Listed below
are ways to use the keyboard and mouse to make operations in some browsers easier.
If these don't work look for the shortcuts in the browsers menu.

Browser Shortcuts

These are
taken from the IE7 Help file. I do not use Netscape or Firefox, but there are
some Firefox shortcuts at the bottom. As you will notice, many are standard
Windows shortcuts, like Ctrl A to select all. Additionally many shortcuts are
displayed in the menus.

Also note
some shortcuts are new to version 7 and may not work in earlier versions.

To
do this

Press
this

Display Help

F1

Toggle between
full-screen and regular views of the browser window

F11

Move forward through
the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Links bar

TAB

Move back through
the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Links bar

SHIFT+TAB

Go to your home
page

ALT+HOME

Go to the next
page

ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Go to the previous
page

ALT+LEFT ARROW
or BACKSPACE

Display a shortcut
menu for a link

SHIFT+F10

Move forward through
frames and browser elements
(only works if tabbed browsing is disabled)

CTRL+TAB or F6

Move backward between
frames (only works if tabbed browsing is disabled)

CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Scroll toward the
beginning of a document

UP ARROW or SHIFT+SPACEBAR

Scroll toward the
end of a document

DOWN ARROW or SPACEBAR

Scroll toward the
beginning of a document in larger increments

PAGE UP

Scroll toward the
end of a document in larger increments

PAGE DOWN

Move to the beginning
of a document

HOME

Move to the end
of a document

END

Find on this page

CTRL+F

Refresh the current
webpage

F5

Refresh the current
webpage, even if the time stamp for the web
version and your locally stored version are the same

CTRL+F5

Stop downloading
a page

ESC

Open a new website
or page

CTRL+O

Open a new window

CTRL+N

Close the current
window (if you only have one tab open)

CTRL+W or ALT+F4

Save the current
page

CTRL+S

Print the current
page or active frame

CTRL+P

Activate a selected
link

ENTER

Open Favorites

CTRL+I

Open History

CTRL+H

Open Feeds

CTRL+J

Open the Page menu

ALT+P

Open the Tools
menu

ALT+T

Open the Help menu

ALT+H

Working with
Tabs ( A new feature in IE 7)

To
do this

Press
this

Open links in a
new tab in the background

CTRL+click

Open links in a
new tab in the foreground

CTRL+SHIFT+click

Open a new tab
in the foreground

CTRL+T

Switch between
tabs

CTRL+TAB or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Close current tab
(or the current window if tabbed browsing is disabled)

CTRL+W or ALT+F4

Open a new tab
in the foreground from the Address bar

ALT+ENTER

Switch to a specific
tab number

CTRL+n (where n
is a number between 1 and 8)

Switch to the last
tab

CTRL+9

Close other tabs

CTRL+ALT+F4

Toggles Quick Tabs
(thumbnail view) on or off

CTRL+Q

Using
Zoom

To
do this

Press
this

Increase zoom (+
10%)

CTRL+PLUS SIGN

Decrease zoom (-
10%)

CTRL+MINUS SIGN

Zoom to 100%

CTRL+0

Using
Search

To
do this

Press
this

Go to the search
box

CTRL+E

Open your search
query in a new tab

ALT+ENTER

Open the search
provider menu

CTRL+DOWN ARROW

Using
Print Preview

To
do this

Press
this

Set printing options
and print the page

ALT+P

Change paper, headers
and footers, orientation, and margins for this page

ALT+U

Display the first
page to be printed

ALT+HOME

Display the previous
page to be printed

ALT+LEFT ARROW

Type the number
of the page you want displayed

ALT+A

Display the next
page to be printed

ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Display the last
page to be printed

ALT+END

Specify how you
want frames to print
(this option is available only if you are printing a webpage that uses
frames)

ALT+F

Close Print Preview

ALT+C

Using
the Address Bar

To
do this

Press
this

Select the text
in the Address bar

ALT+D

Display a list
of addresses you've typed

F4

When in the Address
bar, move the cursor left to the
next logical break in the address (period or slash)

CTRL+LEFT ARROW

When in the Address
bar, move the cursor right to the
next logical break in the address (period or slash)

CTRL+RIGHT ARROW

Add "www." to the
beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar

CTRL+ENTER

Move forward through
the list of AutoComplete matches

UP ARROW

Move back through
the list of AutoComplete matches

DOWN ARROW

Using
Toolbar Menus

To
do this

Press
this

Open the Home menu

ALT+M

Open the Print
menu

ALT+R

Open the RSS menu

ALT+J

Open the Tools
menu

ALT+O

Open the Help menu

ALT+L

Using
Feeds, History & Favorites

To
do this

Press
this

Add the current
page to your favorites

CTRL+D

Open the Organize
Favorites dialog box

CTRL+B

Move selected item
up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box

ALT+UP ARROW

Move selected item
down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box

ALT+DOWN ARROW

Open the Favorites
Center

ALT+A

Open Favorites
Center and display your favorites

CTRL+I

Open Favorites
Center and display your history

CTRL+H

Open Favorites
Center and display your web feeds

CTRL+J

Open Add to Favorites
menu

ALT+Z

Display all feeds
(when in feed view)

ALT+I

Mark a feed as
read (when in feed view)

ALT+M

Put cursor in Search
box in feed view

ALT+S

Using
Editing

To
do this

Press
this

Remove the selected
items and copy them to the Clipboard

CTRL+X

Copy the selected
items to the Clipboard

CTRL+C

Insert the contents
of the Clipboard at the selected location

CTRL+V

Select all items
on the current webpage

CTRL+A

Using
the Information Bar

To
do this

Press
this

Move focus to the
Information bar

ALT+N

Click the Information
bar

SPACEBAR

I don't
use Firefox so David Rippner of www.aeesolar.com
provided some shortcuts:
(He is currently using version 2.0.0.3 of Firefox & loves it.)

Save time
with these IE7 and Firefox keyboard shortcuts:
Ctrl-B Opens & closes the Favorites or Bookmarks window.
Ctrl-D Creates a new favorite or bookmark.
Ctrl-F Opens the Find dialog box.
Ctrl-H Opens History.
Ctrl-N Opens a new browser window.
Ctrl-O Opens a URL window in IE7 & a local doc in Firefox.
Ctrl-E Opens Search in the address (URL) field.
Ctrl-I Opens Favorites in the address field.
Right click on a link to choose Open In New Window
Right click on any graphic and choose to Save or make Wallpaper
Alt-left arrow Same as clicking on Back.
Alt-right arrow Same as clicking on Forward.
Alt-D Selects the text in the Address bar.
Esc Same as clicking on Stop. Space bar Scrolls down a page one screen length.
Shift-Space bar Scrolls up one page.
F4 Lists recently visited sites.
Ctrl-I Opens Search in Firefox.
Type the following in the address (Location) field of Firefox for special information:
"about:cache" gives a list of all files in the disk cache
These used to work in Netscape but do not work in IE or Firefox:
"about:global" lists all the places you've visited and when.
"About:image-cache" lists all image files in the cache.
"About:memory-cache" lists all files in the memory cache.

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